STEPHEN Dank has agreed to appear before the AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal, according to a key advisor to the sports scientist.
 
The revelation came as ASADA launched Supreme Court action to try and force biochemist Shane Charter and compound pharmacist Nima Alavi to appear.
 
“I spoke to him (Dank) this morning. I speak to him quite regularly,” legal academic Martin Hardie told radio station 3AW.

“From what I understand, he’s quite happy to go before the tribunal and give evidence.

“He believes that when his evidence is heard it will be clear that there’s been no doping.

“He has offered to assist the players, to give evidence and even told the tribunal that he’d like the hearing to be in public.”

Meanwhile, ASADA's urgent application to compel key witnesses to appear before the AFL anti-doping tribunal has been delayed as one of them declares he will not be forced to give evidence.

ASADA is seeking orders to compel Shane Charter and Nima Alavi to appear before the tribunal when it begins hearings against 34 past and present Essendon players on December 15.

Alavi is opposing the application.

Charter was present at the Victorian Supreme Court hearing but has not responded to the application.

The tribunal is due to begin hearing charges against 34 current and former Essendon players from December 15.

Earlier, Charter said he would not be forced to give evidence at the tribunal.

Charter told Fairfax radio he didn't want to be subpoenaed to give evidence about his alleged role supplying peptides to Essendon sports scientist Stephen Dank in 2012.

"The physical evidence I can provide has been provided, it should stand on its own," Charter told Fairfax radio on Wednesday.

"I have an aversion to being in court rooms.

"I want the players to go through the process, have a fair trial and move on."

Charter said he refused to be forced into a corner by the courts.

"If you drag me in there, you're not going to get a positive response," he said.

Charter said Dank asked him to buy banned peptide Thymosin beta-4, but said he didn't know which of Dank's clients were going to use it.

He gave the peptides to Alavi.

"I made it clear when I provided the Thymosin beta-4 it was for research purposes only, not for human use," he said.

Charter said he did not know what happened to the peptide after it went to Alavi, and could not say if it was injected into Essendon players.

"What happened and where it went from there is obviously the million-dollar question," he said.

Charter also told SEN radio he refused to sign an affidavit after ASADA asked him to alter his statement to suit its case.

"My concern was that the players may not get a fair trial (because) some of (my) original statement was deleted, some other areas asked for insertions, and from that you could see the agenda ... and I wouldn't be a part of that," he said.

Asked why he wouldn't appear in court to clarify the matter, Charter said it wasn't his fight.

"I've been hit around the head, I've been robbed, beat up, threatened, there's been a lot of financial hardship and family dramas in relation to this whole process," he said.

"So are you going to jump into a street fight or are you going to stand back and protect your family and your best interests?

"Anyone who knows me (knows that) if I've said I'm not going, I'm not going. Good luck forcing me."

If found guilty, the players are facing suspensions of up to two years.

Charter is due to appear in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Wednesday, charged with trafficking and possessing steroids as well as several counts of possessing a schedule four poison.